Spiritual Development Articles

Messages from Your Soul:
Do You Walk Around Mostly Dead or Alive?
By Amy Phillips-Gary

It's the season for honoring the dead and souls whom have passed on-- Halloween, Dia de los Muertos, Samhain, All Soul's Day and so on. In various permutations, these holidays draw our attention to death. We remember and celebrate our ancestors; their lives and spirits are often still with us as sources of inspiration and guidance.

During this season of honoring the dead, I propose that we each take a look at how we tend to conduct our lives. Are we really living them as fully and connectedly as we can?

How many of us walk around in our day-to-day lives as if we are already dead?

It's certainly easy to fall into a dull and numbed kind of existence. There are seemingly unending lists of things to do, places to be, responsibilities to fulfill at work, at home and for our personal health. In the blink of an eye, your primary existence can become these lists and responsibilities.

What gets lost in the process? Your alive soul.

When I refer to the "soul," I am talking about the spiritual connection a person might have with his or her sense of Source, God, Goddess, Allah, Yahweh, Great Spirit or whatever name might resonate.

But the notion of "soul" can be expanded and even generalized somewhat. Your soul can be understood as that essence and depth of your being. It is that part of you that transcends personality, socioeconomic status, body size or skin color. The dictionary defines the soul as the "animating principle."

Without soul, we can easily become robotic and essentially heart-less shells. A soul-less life is one in which a person goes through the motions of living but doesn't really do it with presence, zest or even a semblance of vitality.

I can understand why some of us become disconnected or dulled. We get so busy and/or feel so overwhelmed that shutting down is a kind of survival mechanism. The reality that we perceive we are living is so far from what we want, we deaden ourselves or essentially "leave" so that we don't have to face the disappointment.

The great news is, your soul might seem dead, but it's still there.  A renewed sense of aliveness and engagement is truly available to each and every one of us.

But we each need to nurture and feed our souls in order to re- connect and tap into our own vital essences, however we perceive them.

Listen to what your soul is calling for.
The first step in re-animating your soul (and life) is to notice when you "check out." Start to become aware of when you begin to glaze over and disconnect from what's going on.

It could be that you've had a long day at work and your child is talking at length to you about an experience he or she had during the day. You want to be interested, but you simply feel tapped out. So you nod your head and mumble something while you are actually someplace else-- or merely dazed.

Not only does this kind of "checking out" prevent you from fully engaging with someone you probably care deeply for, it is also a soul-numbing habit that many of us fall into.

Pay attention and listen to what your soul is calling for. You might find it helpful to take a hot bath, meditate or go for a walk after you finish your work day-- do something that can help you recharge your energy, transition to the next part of your day and bring yourself to a place where you can be available and engaged.

It can be as seemingly mundane and simple as this. When you listen to your soul, it doesn't necessarily mean that you are being called to make a radical change such as walking the entire Appalachian Trail or becoming a Zen Buddhist monk-- but it might.

What's most important is that you keep the lines of communication between you and your soul free and open as much of the time as you can.

In every moment, ask yourself what you need right now. You might not be able to literally do what your soul is calling for in each and every moment, but you can be aware of how to more effectively feed your soul and then make choices that point you in that direction.

Honor yourself and the path you're on.
Nurturing your soul can be enhanced when you also practice appreciation. It might be that the soul-enlivening boost you are looking for doesn't involve change but, instead, requires you to wake up to what you already have.

Many of us carry around a whole load of self-criticisms and disappointments about where we are and what we've accomplished (or not) in our lives so far. We get so caught up in what we're not, we then close down in despair or disgust and the soul does the same.

These discontents are what you are feeling and need to be acknowledged. But when you allow them to inflate and override your ability to live fully alive, you are dampening your soul's ability to flourish.

Instead, find ways to honor the choices you've made and the path that you are on. Every single experience you've had is an opportunity for growth and expansion. It all depends on what you do with it.

Expand your view of where you are and see what you can appreciate about yourself and your life at this time-- here's your chance to feed your soul. As you honor the choices you've made and find more things to appreciate, you are tuning into that animating essence.

Do more things that help you feel excited about life. Keep appreciating where you are and continue to envision where you want to be. Continue to connect in and feed your soul in each and every moment.
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Amy Phillips-Gary is a freelance writer, homeschool mom and personal growth adventurer.  

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